EU orders Greece to lift GM ban

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EU orders Greece to lift GM ban

By Fletcher

http://www.foodnavigator.com/news/ng.asp?n=65008 & m=1fne111 & c=xeiqgoegavfxtla

11/01/2006 - The EU has ordered Greece to lift its ban on genetically

modified (GMO) maize seeds, setting the scene for yet another battle

over the controversial technology.

For while the Commission has the power to make its own ruling on the

matter, Greece, along with a number of other Member States, has

consistently voted against any new GMO authorisations.

EU law allows countries to decide whether to allow such seeds on

national territory, although a ban must be approved by EU member states.

When EU farm ministers fail to reach a consensus view on the matter

however, the Commission can adopt its own proposed decision, as in this

case.

The parent maize in question, MON 810, engineered by US giant Monsanto

to resist certain insect pests, won approval for growing just before the

EU began its biotech ban in 1998.

But in September 2004, the EU authorised 17 different seed strains of

Monsanto maize from a parent crop known as MON 810 for planting and sale

across EU territory, opening up bitter debate among Member States.

The Commission has now said that Greece does not have sufficient reasons

to ban the Monsanto seeds, especially as EU scientists had already

assessed MON 810 as safe for human health. It also said that Greece has

not supplied the necessary scientific information to Brussels to support

its ban.

The Biotech lobby has been demanding for months that Greece be brought

to order. “Neither the Greek Government nor any of the authorities have

provided any validated scientific evidence to support either a ban or

withholding approval to use these products in food,” said Simon Barber,

director of the plant biotechnology unit at EuropaBio.

But opposition within Europe remains strong. UK-based pressure group

Friends of the Earth (FoE), which enjoys considerable public sympathy on

this issue, says that ten years after the first significant planting of

GM crops, no plants with benefits to consumers or the environment have

materialised.

“GM crops are not ‘green',” claims the new FoE international report.

“Monsanto's Roundup Ready soybeans, the most extensively grown GM crop

today, has led to an increase in herbicide use. Independent reports from

the US show that since 1996, GM corn, soybean and cotton have led to an

increase in pesticide use of 55 million kilos.”

It is clear that Member States still need to be convinced that

introducing genetically modified ingredients into food production is

acceptable. The Commission has asked EU members over ten times to vote

on authorising a GMO food or feed product, but in the large majority of

cases, there was no agreement or simple deadlock.

Luxembourg, Greece and Austria consistently vote against GMO approvals,

while the UK, Finland and the Netherlands almost always vote in favour.

And GM ingredients are still regarded with some suspicion by consumers

in Europe and as such are used infrequently in food formulations by food

manufacturers who do not want to see sales fall.

It seems likely therefore that the Greeks, who have consistently voted

against any new GM authorisation, will appeal against the EC's order at

the European Court of Justice, the bloc's highest court.

--

ne Holden, MS, RD < fivestar@... >

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